Germany, Aug 23: Kimi Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello have been exonerated of any blame for their part in the first-corner accident at the German Grand Prix. Race stewards decided not to punish either McLaren star Raikkonen or Ferrari's Barrichello after convening at the Hungaroring on Friday to examine new evidence.
Ralf Schumacher had been faced with a 10-place demotion down the grid for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix following the Hockenheim incident, which took all three drivers out of the race. But an appeal hearing of the sport's ruling body, the FIA, on Tuesday swapped the Williams driver's earlier punishment for a £33,000 fine.
Raikkonen and Barrichello again gave their version of events to the stewards, who also studied a video of the accident as well as sequential photographs.
The decision means Schumacher is the only driver to be forced to shoulder any blame for the accident.

His appeal hearing upheld the race stewards' decision that Schumacher "caused an avoidable collision", but decided the initial sanction imposed was "inappropriate".

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With overtaking so difficult at the Hungaroring, however, the decision to overturn the original penalty is a boost for the Williams team.

"It was a very new experience and hopefully last in my Formula One career, but it was very well dealt with," Schumacher said on Thursday.
Bureau Report